Did you recognize your defining moment when it happened?

Mine was just a dream…or so I thought. At that time in my life I was very depressed and pregnant with my second child. I dreamed of an empty classroom with sunlight streaming in and I felt happy in the dream. So happy. And then I woke up with a longing I didn’t know I had, which was to go to college. So I enrolled and gorged on the courses, pregnant and with a four year old besides. That dream ultimately led me, sixteen years later, to my current profession as a psychotherapist. The thing of it is you often never know until later, much later, just how defining certain moments can be. Sometimes a dream really is a dream.

That was my first defining moment. So think about it, if you will, and tell me…what was yours?

3 Responses to “Did you recognize your defining moment when it happened?”

I like to believe that a lifetime is filled with defining moments, scattered across the years, each one carrying its own level of significance as we develop and change as human beings. Most people cannot say that they are the same person now that they were 10 years ago, I know I can’t. And while many of us take pride in retaining our morality and standards as we grow up, the essence of life is that it is constantly changing, as are we, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Pondering the concept of defining moments reminded me of something I said to my sister about two years ago, an hour after she gave birth to her first child. Perhaps it was a newfound appreciation for life that drew my mind to such a profound, yet logical, thought, or maybe it was just that I was overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of my newborn niece, but I couldn’t help but think of what it must feel like for my sister.

“What does it feel like knowing that this is the most important moment of your life?” I asked. And while it was difficult to discern through the haze of pain medication she was on, just exactly what my sister was saying, I came to realize that I may never have a moment that would be this significant, while actually being cognizant of it, and I would likely have to settle for a retroactive awareness of my defining moments.

That being said, if I were forced to think of the one true defining moment in my life, I would have to say it was one night about three years ago. I had just gotten home from my first job out of college, overcome with melancholy and drained from another monotonous and unfulfilling day. I had wandered down the same path as my father, except I wasn’t forced to take just any job to help support my sick parents, the way he was. In fact, part of the reason for his sacrifice was so I didn’t have to.

I realized something that day. I have a better life than anyone could ask for, and I need to do more with myself than just collect a paycheck every week. I wanted to do something with my life that is going help people, something that is going to have an effect on other peoples’ lives. So I decided to go back to school, with the hopes of becoming a college professor. And while things still haven’t worked out the way that I had planned, I am confident that I made the right decision. In fact, I feel surer now than ever that I am on the right track. I’m still in school, working towards a career in counseling, and recently got an offer to teach two college courses as an adjunct in the Spring. But who knows, 10 years from know I may be talking about a new defining moment. That’s just the beauty of life I guess.

Hi, I’m a adolescent counselor. What gave it away? 🙂 I recognized that I was going to be one when I was sitting in my car one afternoon after classes (during undergrad.) I had been contemplating what was going to happen next and what God wanted me to do. I felt called to a Christian sort of enviornment but wasn’t sure what that meant. I was always interested in psychology and helping people. I was sitting there praying and it just hit me, counseling teens, that’s what I wanted to do. The rest is history.

Some five years back, in my hometown, I had organised a picnic for my students. I used to coach students for the professional course of company secretary. They were all from different batches. But fortunately for me, I was the common binding factor for all of them. We had a fantastic time. We were playing “truth or dare”. One of the female students had asked me where I saw 5 years down the line? I was speechless for a few seconds. I did not know. I was completely blank on that. Although I could come up with something coherent and acceptable to say, but the question stayed with me. I was content doing whatever I was doing but I was also stagnating. That question set me thinking about how I wanted my future to be. I realised that I wanted to find my companion in life and get married, work with an organisation making a difference in the lives of other people and be able to provide better medical care for my parents. I now realise that I have achieved all of these three objectives. Yes, on the way I have paid a price, I have learnt a lot. But I have evolved as a human being also. thanks to you – You made me realise the defining moment of my life in the recent past and also the power of my words…